


the war you lived through is long gone

by tossedwaves



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Vernon and Petunia Dursley are awful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27337036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tossedwaves/pseuds/tossedwaves
Summary: Dudley Dursley does not think about a lot of things. He does not think about his cousin Harry, and he does not think about the world he left for. But ignoring things only works for so long.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 57
Collections: Fic In A Box





	the war you lived through is long gone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ahatmadeofcheese](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahatmadeofcheese/gifts).



It was a normal day on Magnolia Street. Dudley and his wife Mary had just come back from work and were having a quiet afternoon in front of the telly, watching football. Dudley’s parents were coming to visit tomorrow, and they had hired someone to clean the house. When they got married, Mary had said that she wouldn’t be spending her time doing housework, that she wanted a career. Though his parents hadn’t liked it, Dudley didn’t personally care. His wife could make her own choices. Dudley had had enough of deciding what people should do. 

It had caused strife, early in their relationship. Dudley had had certain ideas of how people should behave. His parents hadn’t left certain things up to discussion, and Dudley had never been one for deep thought. But he loved his girlfriend (now his wife), so he was willing to listen. And if it was a choice between listening and losing her, well, that wasn’t much of a choice at all. 

Dudley knew what it was like, to lose someone and never hear from them again. He sometimes wondered—

But it was too late for that. The best he could do now was try to not do it again. So he listened to his wife, and he was happy with her. He hoped she was happy too. And if his parents were less happy, it didn’t matter quite so much. They loved him, and they were fine with Mary. And they loved his daughter Rose. 

Rose Dursley was his pride and joy. If there was one thing he understood now, it was how much a parent could love their child. 

Rose took after him. School was hard for her; she didn’t have the patience to sit down and focus for hours on seemingly-irrelevant lessons. She was athletic, though: not a day went by without her regaling him with stories about PE class and the town football league she had joined. Despite how much she exercised, though, she struggled with her weight as much as Dudley did. 

He remembered how it felt to not look like the rest of his classmates. 

But, unlike Dudley, Rose had become the target of particularly awful bullying. Dudley and Mary did what they could to make her know that she was loved and that her body type didn’t matter. They loved her for who she was, and they loved everything about her. But they couldn’t stop the bullies. No matter what they did, some days Rose would come home and nothing could cheer her. 

It made him think of another child, at the mercy of bullies for something he couldn’t control. A child who hadn’t had nearly as supportive guardians—

Some days, Dudley wondered. A child to love and spoil, and a nephew to ignore. How had they rationalized it?

They had kicked Harry out so easily. In Dudley’s darkest moments, he sometimes wondered what would have happened to him had he ever shown a spark of magic. 

But those were only in his darkest moments. He loved his parents, and although he sometimes wondered how they had made the choices they had, he was still thankful he had them. They loved Rose and they tolerated Mary, and Dudley was content with his family. 

(If he ever thought about another person while at their family gatherings, if he now had a family of his own, Dudley never admitted it to himself.)

(After all, he didn’t even know if Harry was still alive.)

* * *

Vernon and Petunia Dursley arrived at 10 AM on the dot. Dudley, Mary, and Rose met them at the door to take their suitcases and direct them to the dining room for tea. 

“Oh, my darling Diddykins! You look so handsome, as always.” Petunia Dursley moved forward to encase him in a hug, kissing him on the cheeks.

Dudley winced at the term of endearment. No matter how much he protested, though, his mum would never stop with the pet names. 

“And my darling Rosie! Have you been behaving well for your father? You look as beautiful as ever.” Petunia went over to greet Rose while Vernon came over to Dudley. 

“You look good, son. How has work been treating you? I bet you’re giving those bastards a run for their money, eh?” He slapped Dudley on the shoulder. “And Mary, nice to see you again. The house looks good.”

Mary grimaced slightly and nodded. She hated when his parents talked about her housekeeping skills, or the lack thereof. No much how much the two of them told his parents, however, they never changed. 

Every day, Dudley grew more and more thankful that Mary had decided to stay with him. God knew what she saw in him. He couldn’t imagine it made up in any way for what she had to put up with.

* * *

His parents were out for the day when it happened. Dudley, Mary, and Rose were sitting in the living room when they heard scratching on the window. Dudley ignored it. The branches always hit the glass in the wind. 

“Is that...an owl? What on Earth would cause an owl to come to our window?”

Dudley’s head snapped up from his boxing magazine. He gasped for breath. “An _owl?”_ He wasn’t sure what to think. Surely this was just a cruel coincidence. But the owl kept on scratching at the window, oblivious to his shock. 

Mary walked over, ready to shoo it away. But something possessed Dudley to stop her. “Wait.”

Mary tossed him an inquisitive look. “What? I’m just going to scare it off. It must be confused, out in the day like this.”

Dudley shook his head. “Wait one second.” He walked to the window and it felt like he was wading through water. Harry had had an owl...could it be him, after all these years? Those strange wizards had said there was a war...and then he had never heard from them again. Dudley had hoped that that meant that Harry was still okay, perhaps with children of his own by now. But he had never _known._ Perhaps...perhaps there was finally news? His hands shook as he opened the window. 

The owl flew through the instant the opening was wide enough. Mary and Rose screamed, but Dudley’s attention was on the letter in the owl’s grasp. After all these years, there was finally a note. 

But the owl did not drop the letter in his lap. It went straight past him, and the letter landed on Rose instead. The owl then flew back out of the window. 

Rose and Mary had no clue what was going on. They both shrunk back against the cushions of the couch, looks of bafflement aimed at the letter sitting so innocently on Rose’s lap. The three of them stared at it until Rose picked it up. 

Her voice shook as she read the envelope. “Rose Dursley, Upstairs Bedroom, 64 Magnolia Lane. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. What on Earth?” She shook the letter as if it could give her some answers. “How could they know what bedroom I have?” She looked at Mary. “Mum, what does this mean?” 

Mary just stared at the letter with equal confusion. 

Dudley could not help the slight sinking feeling of disappointment. It hadn’t been from Harry, after all. He still didn’t know if his cousin was out there somewhere, thinking about him. Or maybe he just thought about Big D, his childhood tormenter and bully. That thought hurt Dudley more than the disappointment. 

But then what Rose had said registered. _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?_ He strode over and took the letter from her hand. The green letters danced in front of his eyes, exactly what Rose had said. Could it be...

“Dad, what are you doing? Do you know what the letter is? Is it a joke? I know magic isn’t real, after all.”

Dudley could just shake his head, too shocked to say a word. He had noticed odd things happening occasionally around Rose, but his sense of normal was skewed. He had grown up around Harry, after all. Strange and alarming things were hardly out of the range of normal. He had never stopped to think that it could have meant something else. 

“Dad?”

Dudley’s attention snapped back to Rose. He handed the letter back to her with shaking fingers. If it was true, she deserved to open it. Not to mention, if what had happened to Harry when his Dad had refused to let him open his letter was any indication, Rose would have to see it at some point. But he didn’t want to keep this from her. 

Rose stared at him quizzically. “You don’t think it’s a joke? I thought you would have trashed it by now.”

Mary’s sidelong glance seemed to agree with her, but Dudley could just shake his head. “No. Open it. Let’s see what it says.”

Rose could only shrug and tear open the envelope. “Dear Miss Rose Dursley, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress.” Rose held the letter out at arms length and squinted at it. “It seems like a prank to me. I don’t know why they thought we’d believe it.” She moved to throw the letter into the fire. 

Dudley touched her wrist. “Wait. I know what this is.”

Mary did a double take. “Dudley Dursley, what are you on about? You can’t possibly believe that this is legitimate.”

Dudley grimaced. “I...don’t believe I ever told you about my cousin.”

Mary’s eyes narrowed. “Your cousin?” She turned to Rose. “Rose, dear, would you give your father and me a few minutes? We need to talk about this.”

Rose frowned and began to protest. “It’s my letter! I want to know what you are talking about!”

“Don’t worry,” Dudley said. “We won’t do anything about it without your permission. Your mother and I just want to have a brief discussion. Please go up to your room.”

Rose stomped up the stairs, but she listened. 

The instant they heard the door close, Mary spoke. “You...never mentioned you had a cousin. You always said that your parents and Aunt Marge were the only family you had left. What cousin are you talking about? Did Marge have a child? And what could he possibly have had to do with Hog’s magic school?”

“It’s Hogwarts.” At Mary’s disbelieving look, he clarified. “The name of the school is Hogwarts. And my cousin Harry went there. His mum was my mum’s sister. He grew up with us after his parents were killed, and he got this letter when he was eleven. He went to school there, and moved out when he was seventeen. I never heard from him again.”

Dudley had never seen Mary look quite so shocked, even including the day she had met Marge and all her dogs for the first time. She hadn’t been able to believe that the two of them were related, though Dudley knew he and Marge shared more than a few similarities. 

“He lived with you? You had a cousin who lived with you and you never mentioned him? How could I not have known this?”

Dudley winced. “That’s because...actually, I don’t know why. We don’t talk about Harry. We never have. And after he left, I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t even know if he was alive. And later, because it felt too shameful. I was—not a good cousin to him.” 

Even that was hard enough to say. Dudley didn’t know how he could admit to Mary what he had done to Harry as a child. Their relationship had never been good. Dudley had never realized just how not-good it had been until he had grown up a bit and lived away from his parents for a while. Smeltings had been a bit of a wake-up call for him. Moving out after graduation had been even more so. 

Whenever he saw his parents now, there were always lots of questions. He and they were different people now. Dudley no longer understood the way they acted. He loved and doted on Rose, but he and Mary couldn’t afford to give her all the presents that Dudley had had as a child. Whenever Rose destroyed something, Mary was always disappointed. She disciplined Rose far more than Dudley ever had been disciplined. He didn’t know how his parents had put up with him. 

But when he thought about the way they had treated Harry... 

Dudley tried not to think about it. He couldn’t judge his parents for doing their best to raise two difficult children. 

(But a small voice in his head always whispered that Harry hadn’t been the difficult one.)

Dudley had talked to a lot of his adult friends about their families. None of them ever treated their family the way Vernon and Petunia had treated Harry. Dudley had been the witness to several arguments within Mary’s family, but everyone still saw each other regularly. No one had ever left and never come back. 

The expression Mary was aiming at him now suggested that he had been right. No one in her family treated people the way they had treated Harry. She didn’t understand. 

“So, this...cousin. He went to this magic school and never came back? And now they want Rose? What do they even do there? They send owls and require magic wands. I can’t believe we’re even considering this.”

Dudley winced. That last point had brought back memories, memories of a time when Dudley had wondered what his cousin got up to at school. With his parents...what they were, he had never entertained such thoughts. But he didn’t want to deprive Rose of anything. If she would be happier there...“I think we should ask her.”

“What, if she wants to go be a witch? What kind of life would she have there? Good Lord, that world might have _killed_ your cousin. We’re still not done talking about that, by the way. How could we send Rose there without even knowing what they’d do to her?”

“Then we can see what it looks like. If it’s too dangerous, we can ask her to come back. But I think...I think she should have the choice.”

Mary looked at him strangely. “I guess...if it means so much to you, then we’ll ask her.”

Dudley smiled and breathed out, relieved. A weight seemed to fall off his shoulders. He wasn’t sure why he felt so strongly about this, but he did. “Then we’ll ask her.” He turned to the stairs. “Rose, you can come down now!”

Her door immediately opened and she burst out. “What were you talking about? You mean magic is real?”

Dudley took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes. And you can learn it too, if you want. If you want to go to Hogwarts...we’ll support you.”

Rose’s eyes gleamed. “I want to learn magic! I want to go! Oh, please, can I go to Hogwarts?”

Dudley and Mary looked at each other. But they could not deny their daughter this. It was decided.

* * *

Vernon and Petunia returned an hour later, when Rose was gleefully reading out the list of supplies she’d need. They had included in their response letter—conveniently the owl had stuck around for that reason—a request for someone to show them how to get what Rose would need for Hogwarts. Dudley had never learned where Harry had gotten his supplies, or even how he got to school. There was so much Dudley did not know. But he wanted to learn it all, for his daughter. She would not leave and never come back. He could not bear it. 

But when he heard the door open, Dudley’s heart sunk. He knew that this couldn’t end well. And Rose wasn’t prepared for it at all. He hadn’t even had a chance to discuss any of this—

There was nothing for it. His parents were going to find out. 

“I simply _cannot_ believe what she said to you, Vern—“

Petunia Dursley saw the distinctive parchment letter with the green ink in Rose’s hands and cut off. All the color fled her face, and Dudley had never before seen her so much resemble a corpse. It looked as if she’d seen a ghost. Petunia opened her mouth as if to speak, but the only sounds that escaped were stifled gasps. 

Vernon Dursley’s face turned purple. 

“Grandma! Grandpa! Look what I got! I’m going to Hogwarts to become a witch!” Dudley’s frantic motioning for her to stop came years too late. Rose did not—could not—know what they were like. She had never seen this side of them. Dudley would have given anything to ensure that she never would. But it was too late. 

Vernon, never short on words, stepped into the confrontation with all the grace of an elephant. “You mean she’s a freak like the rest of them? I can’t believe you’re tolerating this nonsense, Dudley. I finally thought we got rid of it when that freak left for good. But now he somehow managed to corrupt Rose too!” He stormed over to Rose and tore the paper from her hands. “Well, I won’t have it!”

Rose was so startled she sunk back into the couch and began to cry. Mary’s horrified face would haunt him for years afterward. Dudley could only stand there and stare in shock. 

Petunia managed to regain her voice. “Well. Well. I should have known—known that it would never be over. Lily ran off to that freaky school, and then Harry after her. I thought I’d never have to see those nasty wizards again, but now my own granddaughter is one of them. She’s no granddaughter of mine now. If you want to do that freaky witchcraft, you better stay away from me. I won’t have it, you know I won’t!” She advanced threateningly on Rose, and Rose shrunk back even further. 

Mary stepped in. “Don’t talk to my daughter like that! Good God, do either of you hear yourselves? You are under my roof. If you want to speak that way, you can get out and never come back!”

His father rounded on Mary. “It’s all your fault! My son was a good boy before you came around. But you, with your different ideas. And you passed them on to Rose! How dare you tell me what to do!”

A lot of things suddenly became clear to Dudley. He had never understood quite so well what he had to do before this moment. 

“No.” His voice was soft, but it carried. “It’s not either of their faults. It’s you. It’s always been you. And I don’t think you should be around my family.”

The two of them recoiled. “But Dudley—“ “Dudley—“

“Enough.” He took a deep breath. “I think you should leave. We don’t want you here.” 

It felt like Dudley was stepping out into the sun after being buried underwater for years. The crushing, suffocating weight always, _always_ there, never sympathetic, just waiting for him to make a mistake. It was all he had ever experienced, but Dudley knew better now. He no longer had to bear the weight anymore. And he certainly could prevent his daughter from feeling the same. Maybe—maybe it was too late for Harry. Maybe Dudley was years too late to do anything good. But he was finally doing something. And he thought—no, he _knew_ —that Rose would be better for it. His daughter would know what it was like to have a supportive father. 

Perhaps it was the shock of their son finally speaking out against them, but Vernon and Petunia Dursley left the house without any more of a fight. Dudley knew they’d be back, but he’d be prepared to talk to them then. For once in his life, Dudley Dursley knew that he’d done the right thing. He turned to his wife and daughter and smiled. He wouldn’t lose them too. 


End file.
